What was Pericles brought up to be? At the same time, a plague broke out in a city overcrowded by the presence of refugees from rural areas. Athens was the head of a league of city-states from which it collected money that was placed into a central treasury. As mentioned before, The Greek philosopher Plutarch (45 AD – 120 AD) wrote his lengthy histories on the lives of Pericles and his contemporaries in “The Parallel Lives ,” which gave insight to the political world of the fourth and fifth century BC Athens, Greece. What we know of Pericles comes from three main sources. Pericles was the son of Xanthippus who was a statesman and a general known for his skills on the battlefield. His teachers included the musicians Damon and Pythocleides. Gill, N.S. Contact Us:  Suggest a Site - General Comments, See Our New Picture Site Crossroads Home Decor. ThoughtCo. Its format is a dialogue between Socrates and Menexenus. … In 430, the Spartans and their allies invaded Attica, signaling the start of the Peloponnesian War. He hired hundreds of workers to construct public buildings in Athens.The most well known is the Parthenon. Pericles (Ancient Greek: Περικλῆς, Periklēs, "surrounded by glory"; c. 495 – 429 BC) was a prominent and influential Greek statesman, orator, and general of Athens during the city's Golden Age—specifically, the time between the Persian and Peloponnesian wars. He was ostracized and banished from Athens for 10 years, but was eventually brought back for the Peloponnesian Wars. The first known public event in Pericles' life was the position of "choregos." This war is known as the Peloponnesian War. This was a powerful family in Athens who claimed descent from Nestor (king of Pylos in "The Odyssey") and whose earliest notable member was from the seventh century B.C.E. Pericles is perhaps most famous for his great building projects. On the Acropolis at Athens, Pericles built the Parthenon, the Propylaea, and a giant statue of Athena Promachus. In it, Pericles (or Thucydides) extols the values of democracy. The city of the Goddess Athena, under the leadership of the famous Pericles, will experience the greatest glory any city would ever know. English translations of all of these texts are long out of copyright and available on the Internet. He was the son of Ariphon, who was ostracized. Pericles decided that the funds should come from the Delian League, much to the displeasure of the other League members. Pericles turned the Delian League into an Athenian empire and led his countrymen during the first two years of the Peloponnesian War. Pericles promoted the arts and literature, and it is principally through his efforts that Athens acquired the reputation of being the educational and cultural center of the ancient Greek world. Alexander the Great     Aristotle     Draco     Pericles     Plato, Socrates     Solon     Themistocles     Other Philosophers. Pericles is best known for Group of answer choices Leading the Spartan army to victory over the Persians. Most influential: Anaxagoras: Pericles devoted his early politicking to befriending the common man, for he was an aristocrat by birth and feared ostracism from those who would fear him as a power-seeker. This was one reason the Athenians under Pericles decided to limit the people eligible to hold office. "Biography of Pericles, Leader of Athens." Pericles fought in both the... See full answer below. This rebuilding brought fame to the Parthenon and other structures, which are still objects of marvel today. He remained in power for almost forty years, till his death in 429 BC, and scientists name this years the golden age of Pericles, as under his guide, At… What disaster occurred in Athens during the war? or by someone who was imitating Plato. Biography of Pericles, Leader of Athens. Here are 12 facts about Pericles. By introducing pay, all people, even the poor, could participate in the Athenian government. The Long Walls were about 6 kilometers in length (about 3.7 miles) and built in several phases. Pericles was born into an aristocratic family in 494 B.C. In 472, Pericles funded and produced the Aeschylus play "The Persians.". The leader of the party and mentor of Pericles, Ephialtes, proposed a sharp reduction of th… John Pericles is an actor and composer, known for Midnight Oil (2017), End of the Night (2018) and Blind Eye Charlie (2017). was one of the most important leaders of the classical period of Athens, Greece. This period though can include times as early as the Persian Wars, or as late as the next century. A wealthy Aristocrat. Pericles was so important to classical Greek history that the era in which he lived is known as the Age of Pericles. Athens enjoyed a number of years without a war, which allowed them to build a large money reserve. The ancient Greek statesman Pericles (ca 495–429 B.C.) The project of the extraordinary Acropolis was taken on by one of the most influential leaders of history, Pericles. ), called "Nous" ("Mind"). It was written by the Greek philosopher Thucydides (460-395 B.C.E. He was also Athens' leader during (and probably an agitator of) the Peloponnesian War (431 to 404). He was returned to the city when the Persian Wars began. He wanted to establish Athens as the leader of the Greek world and wanted to build an acropolis that represented the city's glory. The very verse form in which the Chorus generally speaks—iambic tetrameter couplets—was used by John Gower, and at most points the story aligns itself with that recounted in the Confessio Amantis. (2020, August 28). His father was Xanthippus, a military leader during the Persian Wars and the victor at the Battle of Mycale. Finally, and most substantially, in his book "The Parallel Lives," the first century C.E. The treasury from the Delian alliance funded the building projects. The Menexenus was probably written by Plato (ca. The text was partly borrowed from Thucydides, but it is a satire ridiculing the practice. Pericles encouraged growth in the arts, including music and drama. Pericles's foreign policy was to stop any revolt in the Athenian Empire and to resist Sparta. Both sons died in the Plague of Athens. Other historians have questioned the Plutarch's bias, but his record is the one which remains the most intact. Known for his oratory skill The Parthenon is one of the most inspiring works of architecture known to mankind. His political career took off in the spring of 472 BC when in the religious festival of Dionysus, he presented the play of Aeschelus, Persae, to the audience, a sign that he was one of the wealthiest men in Athens that time. He is largely responsible for rebuilding the city following the devastating Persian Wars of 502 to 449 B.C.E. They had two sons, Xanthippus and Paralus, and divorced in 445 B.C.E. Choregoi paid for everything from staff salaries to sets, special effects, and music. She has been featured by NPR and National Geographic for her ancient history expertise. All other sources from the fourth and fifth centuries have been lost to time … From about 458 to 456, Pericles had the Long Walls built. A gold deposit was found in the Athenian foothills making the city the most wealthy in the world. See more. Pericles convinced the general assembly to rebuild the Acropolis, which had been destroyed by the Persians thirty years earlier. Freeing the Helots. https://www.thoughtco.com/pericles-leader-of-athens-120215 (accessed February 15, 2021). Gradually, Pericles managed to weaken his political opponents, Cimon and Ephialtes, and in 461 BC, he became the ultimate statesman in Athens. John Pericles, Actor: Midnight Oil. Pericles will be the one to highlight it and through his policies, Athens will enter the so … His rule is sometimes known as the Golden Age of Greece. He was a statesman and general of Athens. While he was not a king or dictator in charge of Athens, Greece, Pericles was the foremost statesman of Athens from 461-429. Zeno was famous for his logical paradoxes, such as the one in which he was said to have proven that motion can't occur. The Alcemons were accused of treachery at the Battle of Marathon. The Spartans sent them back, probably fearing the effects of Athenian democratic ideas on their own government. In the 5th century BC, the city of Athens is growing rapidly. Pericles was an important Greek statesman, orator, patron of the arts, politician, and general of Athens who lived from 495–429 B.C. Metic is the word for a foreigner living in Athens. Pericles definition, Athenian statesman. In the 460s, the Helots rebelled against the Spartans who asked for help from Athens. ThoughtCo, Aug. 28, 2020, thoughtco.com/pericles-leader-of-athens-120215. ), who said he was quoting Pericles himself. Grain boats brought a deadly disease that wiped out most of the population, including Pericles. Pericles was elected strategos in 460, and remained in that role for the next 29 years. Pericles was obsessed with riches, and he promoted trade to make himself wealthy. Reforming Athenian democracy by extending citizenship to foreigners who paid a special tax Cimon had favored Athens' oligarchic adherents. Pericles (C. 495-429 BC) was a very influential politician and general in Athens. His achievements included the construction of the Acropolis, begun in 447. Pericles determined to complete democratic reforms, giving full political power to the general assembly. Athens was the head of a league of city-states from which it collected money that was placed into a central treasury. Pericles wanted to be at war in Sparta. He transformed his city into a leading maritime power, forged the Athenian Empire, oversaw the construction of some of antiquity’s most iconic buildings and under his watch Athenian settlers established colonies far and wide. He was descended, through his mother, from the powerful and historically influential Alcmaeonid family. Pericles was a timid leader who made very little difference to the development of Athens. Because Athens still needed him, Pericles was then reinstated. Xanthippus’ wife, Agariste was the neice of Cleisthenes, another famous statesman of the time. was one of the most important leaders of the classical period of Athens, Greece. He was also Athens' leader during (and probably an agitator of) the Peloponnesian War (431 to 404). ThoughtCo uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience. politics and architecture flourished in the city as it became the center of Greek culture. He rebuilt many temples on the acropolis that were destroyed by the Persians. Pericles gave the speech at the end of the first year of the Peloponnesian war (431 B.C.E.). Pericles also had a mistress, perhaps a courtesan but also a teacher and intellectual called Aspasia of Miletus, with whom he had one son, Pericles the Younger. The period during which he led Athens, roughly from 461 to 429 BC, is sometimes known as the "Age of Pericles,". Anaxagoras is best known for his then-outrageous contention that the sun was a fiery rock. People Black History 428-347 B.C.E.) Pericles, the man whose name has the meaning “surrounded by glory” behind it certainly lived up to that title, considering the years he ruled Athens is known to be called the ‘Age of Pericles’. Pericles was said by some to have bribed the king. Under Pericles the economy thrived and the government became more democratic. Pericles is also famous for the rebuilding of the Acropolis. About a year after he lost his own two sons in the plague, Pericles died in the fall of 429, two and a half years after the Peloponnesian War began. Gill is a Latinist, writer, and teacher of ancient history and Latin. A statesman of ancient Greece, who tried to unite the country under the leadership of his own city, Athens (see also Athens).Pericles also promoted democracy within Athens. Through his mother Agariste, Pericles was a member of the Alcmeonids. He died during the Plague of Athens that ravaged the city between 430 and 426 B.C.E. Athens enjoyed a number of years without a war, which allowed them to build a large money reserve. Choregoi were the producers of ancient Greece's theatrical community, selected from the wealthiest Athenians who had a duty to support dramatic productions. "Biography of Pericles, Leader of Athens." Pericles’ goal was to make Athens a city that Greeks could be proud of. Pericles wanted Athens to be a model for the world. By using ThoughtCo, you accept our. Pericles was suspended from the office of strategos, found guilty of theft and fined 50 talents. Gill, N.S. Pericles hurried back to Euboea and stamped out the revolt. The walls protected the city's access to the Aegean, but they were destroyed by Sparta at the end of the Peloponnesian War. left his mark on the world in far more ways than the iconic Acropolis that still defines the skyline of Athens. They were a strategic asset to Athens, connecting the city with Piraeus, a peninsula with three harbors about 4.5 miles from Athens. According to the opposing faction led by Pericles (who had come into power by the time Cimon returned), Cimon was a lover of Sparta and a hater of the Athenians. As the building program continued, Pericles demonstrated Athenian superiority in other ways. Ancient Greek statesman Pericles, leader of Athens from 460–429 B.C., organized the construction of the Parthenon and developed a democracy based on majority rule. 1. This was a common political punishment for prominent Athenians consisting of a 10-year banishment from Athens. He started an ambitious project that generated most of the surviving structures on … Check out this biography to … Pericles was famous for building the Parthenon. Pericles was also a pupil of Zeno of Elea. Pericles influenced not only the building of one of the grandest works but … Pericles was said by Plutarch to have been shy as a young man because he was rich and of such stellar lineage with well-born friends that he was afraid he'd be ostracized for that alone. Because of his skill and intelligence his time of rule is often known as the Age of Pericles. He is largely responsible for rebuilding the city following the devastating Persian Wars of 502 to 449 B.C.E. It, too, is a Funeral Oration citing the history of Athens. In it, Socrates opines that Pericles' mistress Aspasia wrote the Funeral Oration of Pericles. Roman historian Plutarch wrote the "Life of Pericles" and a "Comparison of Pericles and Fabius Maximum." He also had temples and shrines built to other gods to replace those that had been destroyed by the Persians during the wars. According to Plutarch, although Pericles' appearance was "unimpeachable," his head was long and out of proportion. Instead, he devoted himself to a military career, where he was brave and enterprising. Because of Pericles' abnormally long head, he was often depicted wearing a helmet. N.S. His father, Xanthippus (c. 525-475 BCE) was a respected politician and war hero and his mother, Agariste, a member of the powerful and influential Alcmaeonidae family who encouraged the early development of Athenian democracy.Pericles’ family's nobility, prestige, and wealth allowed him to pursue his inclination toward education in any subject he fancied. That Pericles was known to kiss her on leaving for and returning from work gave rise to speculation about her influence on him and, thus, on Athenian politics. Pericles (sometimes spelled Perikles) (495-429 B.C.E.) Please see Pictures Galleries for Royalty Free images for Educational uses. Pericles was born in Athens, in 495 BCE, to an aristocratic family. He rea… Reforming Athenian democracy advocating for pay for many public offices. He was an incredible leader, which brought Athens into its golden age. Pericles was married to a woman whose name is not mentioned by Plutarch, but who was a close relative. Then he became a politician. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/pericles-leader-of-athens-120215. the city blossomed under his leadership. Children of foreign mothers were explicitly excluded. Since a metic woman couldn't produce citizen children, when Pericles had a mistress (Aspasia of Miletus), he couldn't or at least didn't marry her. But with Athens as the leader of the League, and the most powerful polis in the Greek world, there was likely little any of the other city-states could do to argue with him. A peace treaty was achieved, but Athens had lost most of its gains. Pericles' Funeral Oration - Thucydides' Version, Political Aspects of the Classical Age of Greece, Biography of Alcibiades, Ancient Greek Soldier-Politician, The Peloponnesian War: Causes of the Conflict, The Thirty Tyrants After the Peloponnesian War, Timeline of Battles and Treaties in Peloponnesian War, 30 Maps of Ancient Greece Show How a Country Became an Empire, How Athenian Democracy Developed in 7 Stages, Comparison of Pericles and Fabius Maximum, M.A., Linguistics, University of Minnesota. After his death, the law was changed so that his son could be both a citizen and his heir. In response to Sparta's request for help, Athens' leader Cimon led troops into Sparta. Only those born to two people of Athenian citizen status could henceforth be citizens and eligible to be magistrates. As scholars have long known, however, several scenes in Pericles pull in material from Twine’s novel. Pericles (sometimes spelled Perikles) (495-429 B.C.E.) In his teens, Pericles was mostly involved in music. Gill, N.S. Copyright © 2000-2019 All Rights Reserved History Source LLC. In addition, he instituted for public service and jury duty. He made it a centerpiece of art, philosophy, and democracy. Pericles was repeatedly elected … Among the contributions made by Pericles to the Athenian democracy was the payment of magistrates. Around 461 BC, the leadership of the democratic party decided it was time to take aim at the Areopagus, a traditional council controlled by the Athenian aristocracy, which had once been the most powerful body in the state. The comic poets of his day called him Schinocephalus or "squill head" (pen head). The earliest is known as the Funeral Oration of Pericles. Pericles, Athenian statesman largely responsible for the full development, in the later 5th century bce, of both the Athenian democracy and the Athenian empire, making Athens the political and cultural focus of Greece. The family had several aristocrats of the time. Athens became the sole military power in the world by invading and defeating the Persians and Egyptians. Talbert, known for his work in the reformed Gothic style, included a scene from Shakespeare’s Pericles, Prince of Tyre in the central gable as well as several quotations from this and two other Shakespeare plays, allusions to dining and the grace before a meal. His most important teacher was Anaxagoras of Clazomenae (500-428 B.C.E. Pericles also gained the office of military archon or strategos, which is usually translated into English as a military general. The pay was not great, but it compared to an average worker’s wage. Pericles is also famous for the rebuilding of the Acropolis.